Peter Tork of Monkees fame making a free Massachusetts appearance

He may not monkey around much anymore, but former Monkees band member Peter Tork is still creating plenty of music.

By Meghan Kelly

He may not monkey around much anymore, but former Monkees band member Peter Tork is still creating plenty of music.

Along with his blues/jazz band, Shoe Suede Blues, Tork is performing a free concert at the Maynard Public Library on Monday, July 2, to celebrate the library’s one-year anniversary at its new location.

Tork said he’s not sure how he originally discovered Maynard, but said he has been playing at the Sit n’Bull in downtown Maynard “off and on for years now.”

In an interview, Tork talked at length about his love of and passion for the blues.

“When I play the blues, I am where I want to be,” he said, calling the blues “comforting, (like) good, sticky mom food.”

Despite his career in pop music, Tork said he’s always played the blues “a little bit.”

Shoe Suede Blues, which Tork formed about 10 years ago in California, was originally a blues jam band. They have two albums — “Saved by the Blues” and “Cambria Hotel,” which came out in February — and tour the country for about 20 weeks a year, according to Tork.

The band plays several Monkees songs at each performance, mixing the pop in the songs with a bit of blues.

“We do a version of ‘Last Train to Clarksville’ that is so slow and slinky it brings a whole new meaning,” Tork said.

The Monkees were formed in 1966, specifically for a television show of the same name. Tork, along with Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith won out over close to 500 hopefuls. The band enjoyed meteoric success in the mid-1960s before fading to black in 1970. Since then, there have been various reincarnations, the most recent in the late 1990s.

A petition to induct the Monkees in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame is currently circulating online, signed by approximately 3,000 people, there is a at Tork’s Web site, petertork.com.

Tork said there is a bit of controversy surrounding the petition because how the Monkees came to be.

Tork placed most of the blame on Jann Wenner, the editor and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine who has a great deal of control over nominations. “He has no right to control (the nominating process),” said Tork, calling the delay “abuse of power.”

Quick to point out that it was important to keep any talk of the Monkees and the hall of fame in perspective, Tork said there are “real, important issues in the world today,” pointing to the violence in Darfur, Sudan as an example.

Though they haven’t performed together in years, Tork said he is still in contact with his old band mates. The last time he saw Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones was about six months ago at a funeral for a former member of the Monkees’ backup band.

It was the first time they had seen each other for several years, he said. “Micky and I send e-mails from time to time.”

Tork moved from California about three years ago and currently lives in Mansfield, Conn., in the house his parents bought when he was 13.